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Paul in the News
The Alabama Rig
Elite Series Pro, Paul Elias, discusses his feelings about the Alabama Rig and the possibility of banning the AR on the tours.
Click on the image and select SAVE to download the audio replay to your Cell Phone or MP3 PlayerGuntersville Winning Pattern A-Rig, Deep Fish Pushed Elias Way Over The Top
Just about everybody who threw the newfangled Alabama Rig at the Guntersville FLW Tour Open had success with it. Nobody used it as effectively as Paul Elias, though.
The grizzled veteran, who won the Bassmaster Classic during Ronald Reagan's first term as President, had been intrigued by the umbrella-style device's potential since seeing it for the first time over the summer. Read More
Elias Wraps Up Magical Week With 23-00 Sack
The Mississippian, whose long career includes a host of accolades, wrapped up a stunning wire-to-wire victory on Sunday with a 23-00 stringer that gave him a 4-day total of 102-08. In a tournament that many predicted would be a low-weight event – especially for hawg-rich but highly pressured Guntersville – he compiled the second-highest aggregate in Tour history and won by more than 17 pounds. Read More
Elias Continues His Rampage With 24-05 Stringer
The 60-year-old Mississippian moved a step closer to his long-awaited first win at Guntersville with a 24-05 stringer that gave him a 3-day total of 79-08. If he catches 20 1/2 pounds tomorrow he'll crack the 100-pound mark for the event – a feat that seemed almost impossible earlier in the week. Read More
Elias Pulls Away With An Even Bigger Bag
The veteran from Mississippi backed up his 26-pound day-1 sack with a monstrous 29-03 bag today. His 55-03 total gave him a 14 1/2-pound lead – the equivalent of a solid stringer at a time when the lake isn't at its best. Read More
Elias Went Deep
Elias is no stranger to huge stringers – he holds the B.A.S.S. 4-day weight record with 132-08 from Falcon in 2008. The one he caught today was a surprise to most, however, as slumping Guntersville was considered incapable of surrendering such weights in its present state.
He did it without the benefit of a true giant – his biggest fish was a 6 1/2-pounder. He wouldn't reveal how he caught them, but said his boat was in at least 20 feet of water throughout the day. Read More
Elias wins Walmart FLW Tour finale
23.Oct.2011 GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Pro Paul Elias of Laurel, Miss., caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds even Sunday to lead wire-to-wire and win $100,500 at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 102-8.
The catch gave him the win by an amazing 17-pound, 3-ounce margin over Robert Behrle of Hoover, Ala., who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 85-5 and earned $34,021.
Elias came up just short of the previous FLW Tour total tournament weight record of 106 pounds, 10 ounces that was set by Brandon McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla., at the 2011 season opener in February at Lake Okeechobee. Elias said the Guntersville event marked the fourth time he has cracked the 100-pound mark in tournament competition.
“Somehow the Lord blesses me and I manage to win one of these things every three or four years,” said Elias, who boosted his career winnings to $1.29 million. “To be 60 years old and to be able to compete against these young guys … it’s great.
“I am worn slam out,” Elias added. “I’ve only won one other tournament where I led every day, and it’s exhausting.”
Elias opened the tournament Thursday with five bass weighing 26 pounds even that he caught on a little-known method called an Alabama Rig. On Friday he added another five bass weighing 29-3 and word about the Alabama Rig began to leak out. He then caught five bass weighing 24-5 Saturday and talk about the Alabama Rig dominated conversation on stage. On Sunday, a day that saw the majority of the final 10 competitors use the Alabama Rig at one time or another, he sealed his victory.
The Alabama Rig consists of a hard-bait body that trails four or five wires that have a swivel attached to the end of each wire. Fishermen then tie a variety of baits – swimbaits, grubs or a variety of other artificial baits – to the swivels. The baits fan out and are retrieved and mimic a school of baitfish.
Elias said he fished the Alabama Rig on a 7-foot, 11-inch Pinnacle flipping rod, a Pinnacle reel and 65-pound-test Spiderwire Ultracast FluoroBraid line. Elias baited the Alabama Rig with either 5-inch swimbaits on 3/8-ounce jigheads or 6 ½-inch swimbaits on ¾-ounce jigheads. Elias said he started the competition using Mann’s HardNose Swimbaits but ran out of those and ended up using three different swimbaits during the course of the tournament.
“The fishing started out a little slow and I said, ‘You big dummy, you better catch at least enough to win this thing after you’ve led it this far,’” Elias said. “They finally started biting and I got comfortable.”
Elias said he keyed in on fish on ridges and quick-dropping points near the causeways around current that was causing the fish to stage to ambush shad. Elias positioned his boat in 25 to 40 feet of water and was catching suspending fish in 20 to 30 feet of water. Elias said he estimates he caught almost 100 keepers during the course of the event.
“That Alabama Rig was awesome,” Elias told the weigh-in crowd. “It’s going to be crucial to practice catch-and-release on these fish because when you get that bait in your hand you’re going to catch a lot of fish. So please take care of your lake. You’ve got one of the greatest lakes in the country.”
The remaining top 10 pros finished the tournament in:
3rd: Russell Lane, Prattville, Ala., 20 bass, 74-4, $29,154
4th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 20 bass, 74-1, $24,288
5th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 73-7, $19,421
6th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 18 bass, 70-6, $16,501
7th: Chevy pro Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 20 bass, 69-2, $15,528
8th: Duracell/Gillette pro Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 20 bass, 68-1, $14,554
9th: Chevy pro Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 19 bass, 63-8, $13,581
10th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 20 bass, 62-10, $12,608
Elias continues to lead
22.Oct.2011 GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Pro Paul Elias of Laurel, Miss., endured a 1-hour, 45-minute fog delay Saturday morning and caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 5 ounces to continue his domination of the field at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury and advance to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 79-8, he now holds a 14-pound, 9-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.
“This is one awesome lake,” Elias said. “I’ve had some great Octobers on this lake.”
Elias said he relied on the Alabama Rig again on the third day of competition to land another massive Guntersville limit of bass.
“This rig I’m throwing is crazy,” Elias said. “A lot more guys were throwing it today than were the first two days. It’s obvious by the weights. A bait comes along every now and then and it just makes a lot of sense, and this is just one of those kinds of baits.”
The Alabama rig consists of a hard-bait body that trails four or five wires that have a swivel attached to the end of each wire. Fishermen then tie a variety of baits – swimbaits, grubs or a variety of other artificial baits – to the swivels. The baits fan out and are retrieved and mimic a school of baitfish. Elias said he has been fishing the rig in deep water for suspended fish and has eight spots he wanted to target during the tournament. He’s hit five of those spots during the first three days of competition.
“I’ve tried other stuff, but it just wasn’t working,” Elias said. “I think I can catch another good bag tomorrow. I’ll feel comfortable with 15 or 16 pounds. But I feel like if I catch another limit the way I’ve been fishing I’ll catch another 20-plus-pound bag.”
Pro Robert Behrle of Hoover, Ala., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 64-15.
Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:
3rd: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 59-4
4th: Duracell/Gillette pro Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 15 bass, 51-10
5th: Chevy pro Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 15 bass, 51-1
6th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 50-15
7th: Russell Lane, Prattville, Ala., 15 bass, 49-15
8th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 15 bass, 49-8
9th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 47-5
10th: Chevy pro Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 14 bass, 44-7
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Christopher Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 43-3, $12,121
12th: National Guard pro Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 14 bass, 42-12, $12,121
13th: Kelley Jaye, Dadeville, Ala., 14 bass, 41-12, $12,121
14th: Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., 12 bass, 41-9, $12,121
15th: Trevor Fitzgerald, Belleview, Fla., 15 bass, 41-4, $12,121
16th: Christopher Brasher, Spring, Texas, 12 bass, 39-6, $11,634
17th: National Guard pro Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 12 bass, 36-4, $11,634
18th: Wesley Helton, Calhoun, Tenn., 12 bass, 36-4, $11,634
19th: Blake Nick, Adger, Ala., 10 bass, 32-1, $11,634
20th: Snickers Peanut Butter Squared pro Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 11 bass, 31-13, $11,634
Overall there were 77 bass weighing 265 pounds, 12 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 12 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify. Complete Story
Elias whacks 29-pound stringer, opens up 14-pound lead
21.Oct.2011 by Brett Carlson - GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – They say when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So it makes sense than when fishing on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, it would be wise to use the Alabama rig. That’s what three of the top five pros are throwing this week at the final Walmart FLW Tour event of the season, including pro leader Paul Elias.
Elias isn’t just leading the season-ending tournament, he’s completely dominating it. Coming into the week, most pros felt roughly 60 pounds would be the winning weight after four days. Elias has nearly reached that benchmark in half the time.
After weighing in his 29-pound, 3-ounce catch, the veteran pro was nearly at a loss.
“I’m having one of those tournaments where you just say, ‘Thank you, Lord,’” Elias said.
Early in practice, the Laurel, Miss., native was struggling to catch anything shallow.
“I said to myself, ‘They’re either dead or they’re deeper.’ So I went deeper.”
Mixed in with his offshore domination is the fascinating revelation that Elias is introducing a new presentation – the Alabama rig, which consists of five baits placed on five separate wires that connect like an umbrella. The baits fan out and mimic a school of baitfish. Although Elias admitted to using the Alabama rig, he wouldn’t say what baits he puts on the back.
“I guess the word is out on what I’m doing,” Elias said. “I’m throwing an Alabama rig. It’s a new-type rig that some guy from near Pickwick came up with. It’s just an amazing deal and I think the main reason it’s so effective is that they haven’t seen it before. It’s kind of like a crankbait sometimes. You can’t always catch them on it unless you’re doing it just right.”
Elias said he fished the same three areas he did on the first day and didn’t receive as many bites. But the ones he caught he described as “a-dults,” which drew raucous laughter from the weigh-in crowd.
Although the wind didn’t blow Friday, Elias said the bite was strong thanks to the presence of current.
“I’ve been very fortunate this week. When I got on that pattern I just stayed on it and found as many places to fish it that I could find. I feel like if I don’t get too crowded out there I can catch them.”
Although continually casting the A-rig is physically exhausting, Elias has no thoughts of slowing down. With a 14-pound lead he can almost taste his first victory on Guntersville, long one of his favorite lakes.
“I’m just going to keep going. I’m going to be chunking and winding for two more days. I’ve thrown that (rig) since about noon Sunday and my 60-year-old butt is worn out.” Complete Story
Narrow down your mid spring bass water
Experimenting with Fall Bass
Testimonial
Paul, Wanted to drop you a line and again thank you for the great time Lance and I had. The time spent with you on the electronics was amazing,but the real deal was when we put that knowledge and applied it out on the water on Friday.We guessed our best 5 would of been in the 42 lb range, with both of us catching our personal best fish of our lifes.We had 2 over 10 and 1 around 9 from your lake. We are getting ready to start into the Everstart series this year and your class will definitely help us out.
Thanks again, Frank
In Depth Fishing Lessons Click Here
Just a quick email to let you know how much I enjoyed my trip to Pachuta. As an avid angler I found In-Depth Fishing to be a master's level course in the sport of bass fishing. I learned a great deal and it was fun to apply the lessons while catching lunker bass (see photos). Lake Eddins is an extraordinary fishery! Click Here
David McLarnon
Natick, MA
Fisherman – What a remarkable opportunity to fish and learn from a legend in bass fishing! Fellow bass fishing enthusiasts my name is Robert Chandler who works as an engineer day to day down in southwest Louisiana and I am just your average weekend angler aspiring to locate and put more fish in the livewell more consistently. Recently, I read an article in the Bassmaster magazine that Paul Elias who when I was a teenager had just started his fishing career Click Here